A New Time
by Guardian Nimara
Summary: After defeating Ganondorf, Zelda tried to send Link back in time to live his lost childhood... only, Link didn't agree. Follow Zelda and the Hero of Time as they work together to rebuild Hyrule and fend off all threats toward the throne.
1. Prologue: A New Time

**A/N: This has been a story idea of mine for a long time. I just have not been able to write it because I've been so busy with work. I'll try to update this and my other stories ASAP!**

 **I do not own Zelda...**

 **...**

"No,"

Zelda glanced up from her fingers in shock. Since he had discovered her true identity, the Hero of Time had done nothing but loyally carried out her will. Now he stood with a determined stare and his hands clenched against her desire. She took a moment to look into his crystalline eyes, trying to decipher the meaning behind his stubbornness.

"You must understand my reasoning, Link." Zelda took a step forward and was shocked when her hero took one back. "I was the reason that you lost seven years… do you not wish to have them back?"

His gaze flickered slightly as he thought upon her question. "No." he decided with quiet determination. His fingers tightened on the smooth surface of the Ocarina of Time before he let it slide into his seemingly bottomless pouch. Link easily noted Zelda's dismay and sighed, running a blood-caked hand through his messy locks. "You feel bad about something that's not your fault."

"It is my—"

"No," Link corrected softly. The glowing blues of the edge of the Sacred Realm wherein they stood softened his battle hardened features. He reached forward as if to grab her hand, but considered his own dirtied state and decided to let it be. "We both chose this and…" he smiled, "I wouldn't choose any other way."

The princess looked confused. "How could you think that when your childhood was stolen from you? If I sent you back, you could insure that none of this ever happened. We could maybe even stop Ganondorf's coop. You could live those seven years and—"

"Be alone?" Link supplied. "Because that's what would happen. I'm already an outcast and—look, Zelda… uh, princess… I'm not gonna leave you here."

"But…"

Link took another step forward, making her have to tilt her to look into his eyes. "Do you trust me? I want to stay."

Princess Zelda looked down, trying to ignore the hope that blossomed in her chest at the words. Having Link by her side for the rebuilding would be wonderful… but would he really think the same in a week? Having been fighting for so long, could he thrive in the peaceful times? Would he desire to leave her?

It hurt Link to see the doubt cross Zelda's features, but he brushed it away. "Zel?"

"Will you let me know if you ever want to go back?" She finally whispered.

The hero's grin was youthful and contagious as Zelda felt herself smiling back at him. "I won't want to, but sure!"

"Then let's go back to our time." The princess let her power as a sage flow through her and the bright blue was soon replaced with rubble, fire and dark night.

"Oh," Link whispered and stumbled forward onto his knees. While in the Sacred Realm, his body had been protected against the injuries he had taken, so when they returned, so did the pain. He held his side and grit his teeth, but looked past his own anguish to check on Zelda.

The princess was kneeling beside him, her light blonde hair coated with dirt and her face pale from exertion, but otherwise completely healthy. She carefully cupped Link's sweating face in her hands. "Are you doing alright? I too had forgotten about the fight beforehand… Forgive me…"

Link swatted her hands away and dragged himself to his feet, using the Master Sword as a makeshift cane. "I'll be okay. Nothing to forgive and…" he glanced at her small form with a stupid smile on his bloodied features. "I know you can talk normally. Sheik did, so you can. We're friends, right?"

Zelda let a smile light on her face. "Only the best of friends. And I suppose we can speak informally, under the circumstances." She placed Link's arm around her shoulder, taking half of his weight onto herself. When Link protested, she hushed him. "I'm a princess, not weak."

"I wasn't saying that…" Link groaned. "But you're tired too!"

The princess sighed and looked off at the ruins of Ganon's castle. The sky around it still crackled with an evil intensity. "I know, but we cannot afford to remain here. We can rest when we reach safety. I believe the other sages will find a mode of transportation for us."

"How considerate." Link muttered almost crossly. The sages had been annoyingly absent since sealing Ganon away. "I hope they have Epona tied to a cart or something. I am not walking to Kakariko."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey everyone! The second chapter is finally here! Sorry about the wait, I will get better at updating...**

 **Thanks to everyone who wrote such nice reviews for me. You have inspired me to keep going with this story! Special thanks to aire-fi, James Birdsong and StraightedgeWingZero for reviewing and for everyone following the story.**

 **This is still the beginning, so it might be a little slow as I get it to where it needs to be. If you have any ideas on the story, comments or even helpful criticism, please let me know!**

 **As you all know, I do not own Zelda... but if I did, there would be a new game out already... :P**

 **...**

The night was deep, a darkness in which even the cursed monsters that invaded the land dare not venture in. With the silence unbroken by nothing but the sound of hooves and rattling wheels, Zelda found herself constantly peering through the cloth covering. She watched the shadows with in instinct born from years of concealment, but drew back as nothing yielded to her searching gaze.

With a long sigh, she sat back and looked down at her gloved hands. Gloves, not bandages. Carefully, she drew the material away and peered at her calloused fingers—proof of years of training and fighting. ' _But that fighting is over,'_ she speculated. Her gaze naturally fell on the young man unconscious beside her. ' _Thanks to Link.'_

The hero had not lasted long after exiting to Hyrule Field. As he had said before in an angry mutter, the Sages had somehow managed to procure a wagon to make easier their journey. Epona was not as happy about the arrangement as her master, but once she saw his beaten form she lowered her proud head and obeyed silently. Shortly thereafter, Link's exhaustion overcame him and Zelda found herself alone with her thoughts.

Tossing her gloves to the side, she softly brushed the bangs from Link's eyes. As a testament to his fatigue, he did not react to her touch. She looked down at his bloodied limbs, some twisted in ways that made her believe that they were broken. With her limited resources, she had done all she could to keep him comfortable and to stop the bleeding. Not much could be done for him until they reached Kakariko.

She stroked his hair one last time before drawing her fingers back in shock, not even aware that she had been doing so. Moving back as far as she could from the young man in the cramped space. Before she could think on her actions, the wagon shuddered and came to a stop and Epona—who stubbornly made her way driver-less—gave a frustrated whinny.

"Who goes there?"

The princess stood, her eyes wide at the ferocious way the question was shot at them. Immediately instinct took over and her magic gathered around her body, shifting her form and clothing. Her fingers shook from overexertion even as she slid knives between them. She was about to open her mouth to reply as Sheik, but a strong hand gripping her shoulder made her whirl around.

Link gave a small smile and rose an eyebrow at the weapons now pointed at him. Zelda quickly turned them away, a soft blush barely showing over the fabric covering her face. The hero quickly lifted the wagon cover and jumped out, with no regard for his injuries. "Mutoh?"

Zelda crept out as well, noting that the Master Sword was still sheathed. He stood completely at ease as the old carpenter let his saw fall to his side. She moved to Link's side and noticed that Mutoh's expression hardened slightly at the appearance of a Sheikah.

"You're alive." He said flatly. "I thought you'd die when that earthquake destroyed the castle."

"It was a close thing." Link commented and started to unhitch Epona as casually as he could with one arm dangling uselessly to the side.

Zelda frowned. "As much as I loath to break up this… reunion… The hero is in need of medical care."

Mutoh grunted. "I aint dumb, Sheikah." Link paused and gritted his teeth in anger at his tone, but the lead carpenter didn't see it. "What I want to know is why the castle is gone."

As per usual, Sheik didn't provide an answer for that. She moved around to help Link lower the wagon from Epona's shoulders. The horse gave a happy whinny before turning away and galloping into the distance.

"Ganondorf is dead." Link answered, not bothering to turn to the man even as he heard the disbelieving grunt behind him. "He is gone and the princess is back."

Zelda froze at his last statement. Was it really safe to reveal herself so soon? "Hero, we must get you inside…"

Mutoh laughed condescendingly. "The princess is long dead."

"She's alive."

"Then where is she? Why isn't she here with you?"

Link's lips twitched upward at his words, but catching a sharp look from his hidden princess made him sober. "Sheik and I need to make sure it's safe for her first."

Mutoh snorted in obvious skepticism, but reached out for Link's arm. The hero stiffened at his touch, a frown still creasing his features at the carpenter's insults toward Zelda. He took a deep breath and turned around, his exhaustion finally showing in the slump of his shoulders. Despite being tired herself, Zelda reached forward in an attempt to help but was waved back by both men. She let one eyebrow rise but didn't comment. Instead, she led the slow walk up the stairs and into Kakariko.

The villagers within the gates too held the same grim fear that Mutoh had displayed at their appearance. Where seven years ago, Sheikah were welcomed with open arms, now they were seen as some sort of omen. Zelda was used to the stares and to the lukewarm reception, but Link immediately took offense.

Link narrowed his eyes at the crowd but Sheik spoke up before he could. "Bring him to the house of Impa, Mutoh. I shall be there shortly."

The Hero of Time strained momentarily at the muscle that held him, but as black began to stain his eyes with visible pain, he sighed and let himself be dragged away. The potions Link had drunk immediately following his battle with Ganon had worn off and his limbs now felt like lead and his head bowed toward the earth, shielding his paling features.

"—watch tower collapsed and… boy?"

"Mmm?" Link hummed, barely clinging to consciousness.

"You ain't as invincible as you think," he chuckled. "You really fought the Evil King?"

Link watched as the patchy grass beneath his feet abruptly changed to creaking wood floors. In response to the question, he could only groan as he was set down on a scant cot meant for travelers. When his shield and sheath were dropped unceremoniously to the floor, his good hand snaked out and seized Mutoh's thick wrist.

The carpenter looked down in bemusement at the seriousness in the youth's gaze. Despite being glazed in pain, his eyes held a power that started to impress the man. Mutoh laughed and moved the weapons close, leaning them against the wall. "I ain't gonna take your weapon, boy." He watched as Link moved his gaze to the sword that gleamed softly in the candle light. "Hm… I don't think you're a hero. You're just a boy who saw too much." The man gave a gruff grin at Link's confusion. "I'm gonna leave before that Sheikah comes back. He scares me more than Gerudos do." With a slight bow of the head and heavy footfalls, Mutoh exited.

…

When Sheik returned to her mentor's house, Link was once again unconscious. The young man was curled defensively on a small cot with his good arm dangling merely inches from the Master Sword. Carefully, she began the lengthy process of cleaning and dressing his wounds. During the entire process he barely moved, twitching only as she had to take a needle to the long wound he had received in the stomach.

When she deemed him ready—until he was wakeful enough to drink a potion—she sat back and listened to the silence that had fallen over the land. With each moment, a new feeling crept upon her that something was amiss. She sat back and even as her eyes began to slide shut in her own exhaustion, the answer came to her. _Navi._

Now that she thought about it, the tiny fairy had been suspiciously quiet since Link rejected going back in time. Tired from their battles, Link and Zelda had not thought to look for Navi. In the back of their minds, they must had assumed that she too was too exhausted to say much. Zelda bit her lip, remembering the dying glow she had observed from Link's constant companion as they faced Ganon in a roaring ring of fire.

"Link will be devastated…" She whispered to herself as she allowed herself to finally fall into the folds of sleep that had been waiting for her with extended arms. After all, there was nothing they could do about it now…

...

 **A/N: Mutoh is the boss of the carpenters who is found often being horrible to his workers. Thank goodness for the internet, otherwise I never would have figured out his name. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: LoZ isn't mine**

 **Hey! I'm alive! I'm so sorry for the wait; I was between jobs, family problems and a lot of craziness. But I'm back now! Thanks for waiting so long. Hopefully that doesn't happen again.**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

When Link awoke, it was to the sound of happily twittering birds and the methodical sound of vegetables being chopped but he didn't hear it. The hero laid in a stupor, his thoughts a jumbled mess that he desperately wished to sort through. He remembered flames, a collapsing tower and pain that was now beginning to manifest itself to his barely wakeful mind like ripples in a pool before escalating to shuttering waves. He gasped at the fresh agony as his mind finally placed his memories, neatly arranged, in front of him.

Ganondorf… he had someone… someone important. Link defeated him along with… Sheik! It was Sheik! But Sheik was really…

Link sat up. "Zelda?!" His eyes flew open in his desperation. Where was she? His vision remained unfocused until a blurred figure rushed forward. One thin hand on his shoulder, leaning him back once again and the other lightly over his lips. Link furrowed his brows until the blonde bangs, red eyes and bandages came into focus. "Thank Farore…" he muttered intelligibly from behind her hand.

Red eyes rolled at him, but marred the effect by looking relieved. "You've finally awakened. Good."

"Finally?" he asked, prying away her bandaged fingers.

The masked woman in front of him glanced quickly toward the door before continuing to speak. "You've been asleep for days, hero."

"Days?" Link whispered to himself before giving a wry smile. "That's much better than seven years."

"Indeed," Sheik said while lowering her hand to Link's. Twin lights flashed on their skin—though it barely showed through Sheik's bandages—before hiding their presence once again.

Link looked up at his companion, his princess, his friend, and frowned in disappointment. Though one eye was almost obscured in bangs he could see shadows under her sharp eyes and, if he looked deeply enough, he could almost see blue in the red depths. It was almost as if she were too exhausted to fully cast her spells. She raised an eyebrow as if in challenge and withdrew her hand.

"What have you been doing," he asked in a small voice that he knew she could still hear, "while I've been asleep?" he knew the answer was one she had used many times in the past, yet he asked it anyway.

Her crimson eyes widened momentarily before she let a smile crinkle the skin around them. "I've been working."

Using his one good arm, Link began to push himself off of the bed. When the Sheikah came forward to push him back down, he grinned up at her. "This isn't my first rodeo, Sheik. Give me a potion and I'll be fine."

"It was your first time fighting the bearer of the Triforce of Power." She took a step closer and placed a hand on his chest as if she would push him back, but instead looked into his eyes and waited.

"Well…" Link trailed off with a distant frown marring his bright features. "I never told you about what had injured me so badly in the forest temple, did I?"

Sheik's fingers clenched onto Link's tunic at the memory. She had been waiting outside of the temple. As per instructions from Impa and Rauru, she was strictly forbidden to follow him within. They spoke of how it was the Hero's destiny to complete the trials alone, but she doubted that was their lone reason. She knew that they merely didn't wish for her to get hurt. So, Sheik waited and the hidden princess tried not to fret as days faded and returned, but her hero did not.

It was the sunset of the third day when he had finally appeared, borne on a waft of blue light that softly deposited him on the ground. From her position in the tree, it looked like he had replaced his green tunic with one of a deep red. She had dropped to the ground to inspect his injuries more closely and felt her heart begin to hammer in guilty panic at the sight. Yet, the hero had the audacity to turn and offer her a lopsided grin before passing out.

Link noticed her expression change at the memory and began to speak, tripping over his words in his haste to explain. "Well, Ganondorf sent himself…well, a phantom him… and it was basically like fighting him before he changed into a pig-minotaur thing… except that he had a horse… and hid in paintings… and I think he was actually harder than…"

Sheik slowly began to smile at his rambling thoughts. "I think I understand. So you fought Ganondorf before, but Ganon—the beast—was a first."

The hero scratched his head sheepishly, wincing as he found a bandage there. "I don't think that anyone could have gotten out of that unscathed."

"You've broken an arm, some ribs, bruised your back and countless other areas, you're lucky that you're not concussed…" Sheik was counting off on her bound fingers, "shall I continue?"

"And I think I stubbed my toe at one point," Link interjected dryly. "Look, I'm not going to go back to sleep now. I've had enough of sleeping to last a lifetime. But you…" he drew close and brushed a lock of golden hair aside to whisper into her ear. "Get some sleep, Zelda."

She stiffened at the warm air that brushed her face. "There is still much to be done, hero."

Link withdrew and sighed, looking older for a moment before meeting her gaze with his sincere eyes. "It's _Link_." He reminded softly as she turned her face away. "Nothing is too important that it cannot wait a night."

"The food on the stove as well?"

"Hm?" Link looked around as if he had only just then smelled the soup she had been preparing. "Um… well, I guess that we can eat that first…" his stomach growled loudly in agreement.

"The famous Hero of Time," she muttered as she helped him over to a seat, "brought to his knees by food…"

He sat down carefully, as if he was examining every movement to determine which would hurt less. "Well I am a man and, if a remember correctly, your soup is—"

"Tough and tasteless?" She quipped as she began to pour them servings.

Link laughed, not agreeing nor disagreeing to the statement. "It's better than Lon Lon Milk and apples for every meal." He accepted his steaming bowl with a gracious nod.

Sheik knelt on the floor a few feet away and stirred her food with a thoughtful look on her face. "How did you ever survive?"

"I stopped trying to cook everything I killed," he winced at some distant memory then shook his head to rid himself of the thought. "Then I relied on a certain ally to watch out for me."

The Sheikah shook her head. "I'm glad that I could help."

Link took a bite and then shifted a little in his seat, "It could use a bit of salt though…" he winced in preparation for the retaliation he was sure to receive.

She rolled her eyes and gave a longsuffering sigh. "I am short on supplies as it is. There is not the time, nor does the town have many resources to spare." now comfortable with the knowledge that her cover was safe with Link, she lowered her scarf and began to eat slowly. The hero watched her in interest as she stared down at her bowl, her forehead creased in thought and her mouth moving in silent words between bites.

"Zel—I mean, Sheik?"

The woman glanced up sharply, her eyes fading from red to blue slowly. "I was… just thinking…"

Link finished the soup with a great gulp straight from the bowl and leaned forward, ignoring the twinge of pain in his chest from his wounds. "About what?"

Folding her hands on her lap in a graceful, princess-like movement, she let a small frown escape. "How are we going to introduce me into their lives again?" Her eyes met his, piercing blue and inquisitively wide. "I was a child when I left, and many suppose that I died long ago. There was no hint of my survival, just of my escape. Impa and I covered our tracks perfectly… even the most observant would reason that we had fled the country.

"I left them," she continued, her fists clenching tightly at the words. "Would my people not think that I had turned a blind eye to their sufferings?"

"You were a child, they have no right to blame you for what happened."

"Seven, almost eight, years." Her voice shook and she cleared her throat. "When a populace is so undeniably frightened, it is only human nature to cast blame. It need not make sense. I may have been a child at the time of the siege, no one could blame me for running. Some may place their blame in the fact that, to their eyes, I did not return upon adulthood. I did not come back to reclaim the throne."

Link settled back in the creaky wooden chair, wincing as the movement pulled at too many wounds. "You could reveal what you had been doing for them…" he flinched at the scowl Zelda threw back his way, "…or not. Look, it doesn't matter what they think. The war is over. You did more than could have ever been expected of you."

"It does matter," she held up a hand as Link opened his mouth to argue. "It is not time yet for Zelda to come back. We have time to think. For now, you should take that time to recover. I do not know what effects Ganon's death had on the residual creatures in Hyrule, but I know that I will need your help in keeping my people safe in the coming restoration of the kingdom."

The hero frowned, but agreed to her statement with a curt nod. He was useless as he was. "You need to rest too. Don't argue," he ignored Zelda's rather intimidating glare. "I may not know much about magic, but it looks like you've exhausted yours." He pointed at his own eyes and hers narrowed as she understood his meaning.

"I will," she grumbled, "but I cannot remain bedridden long. It has taken all of my efforts to keep the villagers from coming to gaze at their hero like some mythical beast on display."

Link tilted his head, his mouth slightly agape. "Why would they do that?"

"You're their hero," she responded and collected the dishes from her confused companion. "They have also begun to spread absurd rumors about you since the destruction of the castle was confirmed."

"What have they said?" he groaned.

Sheik smiled and dunked the bowls in a bucket of water before turning to answer his question. "I'll let you figure that out, great hero. Potion is by your bed. Drink it once I get you there."

Link frowned as he was helped to his feet, again ignoring the pain he was in. "You're as bad as Navi. Where is she? She's being unnaturally quiet…"

Zelda forced herself to not stiffen, but kept her touch soft as she led her hero, her friend, to his room and bed. "I am not certain. I haven't seen her."

"Probably got bored of watching me sleep," Link commented as if it would have been no surprise, grunting when he was assisted into the bed. "She always left when I least expected it and returned with a healing fairy or other help. She should be back soon."

"I hope so, Link," Zelda muttered, backing out of the room. "I sincerely hope so…"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Legend of Zelda isn't mine.**

 **Hopefully updating more than once a day will make up for my extended absence? No?**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

It was a week before Sheik allowed Link out of the house. In the meantime, the restless hero had to content himself with cleaning Impa's dusty house and retraining his healing, but woefully underused, arm. Though he tried to keep his mind and body moving, his thoughts kept straying to his missing companion. Where was Navi? She had never been gone for so long.

Sheik was no help in the matter, she was always either fending off Anju, the cucco lady, or she was taking part in the rebuilding. It had taken a lot of persuasion on his part, but Link eventually got her to tell him about their reaction to her. After seeing Mutoh's obvious mistrust of her, Link had found himself worrying for his quiet companion's safety. The townspeople were scared of the unknown, she had explained, and as a mysterious being, they didn't trust her either. Through her assistance, however, she was slowly being accepted.

Link smiled and stretched out in the shade of the potion shop by the well, plucking at the grass with lazy fingers. Currently, most of the townspeople were at the archery game shop repairing some of the fire damage there from Bongo Bongo's attack under Sheik's guidance. The hero had wanted to help at first, but his friend had snapped that if he aggravated one of his wounds even slightly in the attempt, that he would be chained to his bed for the next month. Brave though he was, he wasn't stupid. So they agreed that he was well enough to lounge outside, out of sight.

He looked down at his gloved hand and flexed it with a small frown. Only recently he had learned that the great power of the Triforce of Courage rested there, yet he felt as he always had. He didn't feel more powerful for it, nor did he feel any more courageous than he was as a child in the Deku Tree. If it hadn't been for that final confrontation between himself and Ganon, he would have laughed the idea off.

A sound yanked him violently from his thoughts. His arm shot downward and he pushed himself into a crouch, listening carefully to the whistling breeze. His sharp ears picked up the sound of boots on grass that came ever closer and he cursed. The well was bound to attract people, and he had brilliantly chosen to hide next to it. His practiced fingers drew the Master Sword as he watched a form move to the well to draw water.

Anju let out a shrill squeak when she looked up, her eyes meeting his in the deep shadow. "Oh my," she muttered, fluttering her hands over her heart in an effort to calm it. "You looked like—oh, I don't know why I thought you were, but in the shadow and with your sword—you looked like a wolf about to pounce! You frightened me."

Link didn't bother to tell her that he was actually ready to pounce. Too many times life had proved that one could never be too careful. He sheathed the Master Sword gracefully and rose to his feet. "Anju," he smiled, though memories of chasing her cuccos around Kakariko threatened to pull a frown on his lips instead. "Sheik told me you wanted to see me…"

"Oh, yes," she placed her empty bucket on the ground and fluttered her hands around uselessly. "The young man wouldn't let anyone see you. He said that you were badly hurt… I just… I had to make sure that you were alright. Did you… did you really kill Ganon?"

Link sighed and ran a nervous hand through his blonde locks. "Yeah, I did. He's gone."

She smiled with happy tears shining in her bright eyes. "I-I would have never guessed that the boy that always chased my cuccos around Kakariko would one day save us all. It's a miracle. You're a miracle, Link."

The hero's face turned the color of Anju's hair and shifted uncomfortably at the praise. "I don't know about that," he looked up at the position of the sun. "It was nice to see you, Anju, but I really need to go. Sheik will lock me away in the house again if sh—he knows that I was out." He fumbled in his pouch for his hookshot; the fastest way out of the conversation.

"Is it true?"

"Hm?" Link voiced absently as he continued to look.

Anju grinned widely, "That you took down the Goron elder with nothing more than your bare hands?"

He groaned and withdrew the sought-after item, aiming it at the roof. "If you haven't heard it from either Sheik or I, it's not." With a press of the trigger, the hook extended, latched onto the shingles above him, and carried him far away from the conversation. He was so relieved for it that he almost didn't feel the pain in his healing arm from using the contraption… almost.

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Did I not tell you," Sheik chastised him though her cheeks were slightly reddened, "that you needed to stay out of sight?"

Link sighed but didn't bother answering. He tried to relax as his companion slathered more of a potently peppermint smelling ointment on his aching shoulder. He had tried to massage the pain away from using the hookshot earlier, but when it didn't diminish, he approached Sheik with a lowered head.

"I'm not sure how this item works," she continued, trying to keep her eyes from straying to the strong muscles of his back. "But it must be a thing of magic. I'm surprised that it doesn't rip your arm off when you use it."

"S'not as jerky as it looks," the hero sighed in contentment as Sheik's strong, yet skilled fingers continued to work the mixture into his skin.

The woman patted his arm once and sat back, finished with her task. Link groaned longingly, but obediently pulled his tunic back on and turned to face her. Sheik's face was still flushed but her glare drew Link's attention away from that. "I should keep my promise to keep you indoors." She looked around. "In truth, I have never seen Impa's house look so clean in the past seven years, so it is not too bad of a punishment. I do hope you didn't misplace anything though,"

"I'd go crazy, Zelda," he said lowly, trying to convey his desperation for action through his eyes. After months of constant travel and fighting, this peace was strangely unfulfilling. He felt out of place in this world. In her vast wisdom, Zelda had been right: there was no room for a hero during peaceful times. Link knew that when he had fought her will instead of returning to the past, but he had no place in the other time. "I need to be out there, helping to rebuild that which was destroyed while I slept."

"Link," she muttered and took his hand in hers, the gentleness in her touch and the callouses on her fingers contradicting one another. "I-,"

Her words stopped as she snapped her mouth shut and jumped to her feet, long daggers between her fingers. Link was only moments behind, his sword hissing from its sheathe as the door flew open. A man stumbled in and looked up with a look of horror in his panic glazed eyes. Sheik did not move from her defensive stance, but Link sheathed the Master Sword and moved forward to grip the man at his shoulders, as if to transfer his own physical strength over.

Still unwilling to let her guard down, Sheik considered the man. He was not of Kakariko. His clothes were old and new tears adorned his sleeves and soaked up oozing blood from small injuries. His shaking hands clutched at Link's and he looked at the hero in awed silence. Link didn't notice the attention, but was searching his body and mentally tallying each wound.

"What happened?"

The man blinked when Link spoke. While still a young man, the hero's voice betrayed how his adventures had aged and hardened him. "W-we were attacked."

"We?" Sheik finally advanced with silent steps.

"Yes S-Sheikah." He fumbled over his words, intimidated by the red eyes piercing into his own. "A small village, formed when G-Ganon took over. You wouldn't know it."

Link helped the man to a chair and rummaged through their supplies for bandages. "I likely do. I've been around." He began dabbing at the cuts.

"What attacked you? Where are the rest of your people?" Sheik hand twitched in impatience. She understood that the man needed attention, but there were likely others that were in a much more perilous position. Knowing that it was in Link's nature to help, she tried to calm herself.

"I rode ahead," he wiped his brown hair from his sweat-drenched brow. "They asked me to find the hero… are you…?"

Link looked up from his work. "I'm just a man with a sword, trying to do the right thing." He patted the man on the shoulder and stood. "You'll be fine. What, may I ask, attacked you?"

"Skeletons… burst from the ground." He shuddered. "It looked like they were running from something… maybe to it? The attacked when they ran into the village… Terrifying, it was."

The hero nodded curtly and walked to where his shield and pouch were sitting on the table. With practiced fingers, he strapped them on and turned to Sheik. "They might be fleeing because they know that light will return to the land soon."

"Are they Stalchildren, or Stalfos?"

Even as the man was shaking his head in confusion, Link answered. "I haven't seen a Stalchild for seven years." He turned to the man and offered a comforting smile. "I'll go to them. Where are they?"

"Likely between here and Lon Lon Ranch."

Link turned to Sheik. "I'm going now, Sheik, stay here."

"You're still recovering from your injuries, hero. I must protest. Another hand would—"

"It would be nice, yes." Link responded, tightening his belts and pulling on his boots. "but I need someone here to ensure that the people don't panic. Come on, Sheik, I've faced worse in much worse condition."

She was frowning, Link couldn't see her mouth, but he could tell from the way her eyebrows lowered. "I will not pretend to like this, hero. Go."

Link grinned hugely, the victory won much more quickly than he had imagined it would have been. "I'll send the people here and guard their backs. Expect me in a few hours." The hero turned and, with a confident air, strode out into the thick darkness of night.


End file.
